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Sunday, 31 October 2004

This is probably the shortest recipe I have posted here. Simple and so easy to make. Great for meals accompanied by salad or a vegetable dish. Lechon means a roast, while paksiw is a Filipino cooking method of stewing meat in vinegar. This dish is more or less a way of recycling pork lechon using the roasted meat and its accompanying liver sauce. Although for me this is the only thing I wait for in a pork lechon. I'm not really fond of the roast itself.

When we moved to HongKong, I looked for a substitute for the Filipino pork lechon and found a worthy one in the regular Chinese roasted pork. I have to adjust the soy sauce of course because the Chinese version is much saltier than the home variety. So in case you're using the regular lechon, double the soy sauce measurements. I used the Mang Tomas brand of regular liver sauce. They have the spicier version as well which you can use to give it a little kick.

Monday, 25 October 2004

Around 1996, when the internet was in its infancy, few people were going online, there weren't any web-based forums and all you have are either the techie's bulletin boards (BBs) or the Usenet. I discovered the latter and it was like a hallelujiah moment for me, like an alladin's cave was opened. I saw hundreds, no maybe more than a thousand discussion groups that talk about, chat, argue on things and topics ranging from gardening to national cultures. It was a virtual circus and it was so wonderful to discover it and be among people online. I plunged right in and subscribed to several discussion groups of which my favourites were rec.food.cooking (RFC), rec.food.recipes (RFR), and soc.culture.filipino (SCF). But of course hands down, the group that I read the most is the RFC. It attracted a lot of die hard foodies, chefs, talented cooks, or just the plain curious. I gained a lot of cooking tips, recipes, where to find the best restaurants in which cities, etc. The people you can find there are a great mix and it's always entertaining to read the exchange of ideas, recipes and insults (flaming) that were brewed by this diverse combinations. I will always recall with fondness the 'characters' that I've 'met' there and in the process acquired a number of great recipes from these generous cooks and foodies. So here's to you RFC - cheers!

You may have a hint now where this is going, this recipe is from an RFCer - Barb Schaller. She has a number of interestingly titled recipes in the unofficial RFC website of signature dishes. This one is quite easy to make, besides the buttermilk, all the other ingredients can be easily perused wherever you are in the world. And you don't have to do it in a Bundt or tube pan; any pan would do, you just have to adjust the baking times for these. The cake is a bit on the fudgy side and not very sweet which suits me quite well. Finally, this was done by my son as a birthday gift for his sister who had her birthday last Sunday 24th October. Of course his mum did all the mopping up afterwards - heh - bummer!

Whisk in hot coffee until completely incorporated. (The batter will be quite thin.)

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into centre comes out clean.

Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes; remove from pan and let cool completely.

*For the icing: Mix buttermilk with the icing sugar enough to make a thick but pourable icing. Set cake on a serving plate and drizzle the icing on top.

*Note: If you don't have any buttermilk, you can make some: for every cup of buttermilk, put in 1 Tbsp vinegar or lemon juice in a non-metal container then add milk to make 1 cup; do not stir, let stand and curdle for about 5 minutes.

When my mother wanted to 'extend' the whatever meat we had for a meal, she would buy a little minced/ground pork and cook this dish. Making sure that there are a lot of potatoes, peas and carrots in it. This is the version of picadillo that I know from childhood. The standard picadillo in the Philippines is usually made of beef. I think my mother used pork because first, she doesn't eat beef; second, pork is cheaper than beef and cooking and stretching this dish is all about economics.

Now that I closely looked at it I realised it is a variation of the Afritada recipe of hers. It's just that all the vegetables are cubed. Nevertheless, me and my family do enjoy this especially if fresh tomatoes are used.

Friday, 22 October 2004

This recipe is adapted from the same magazine and article as my previously posted Apple Cake. It is by Fern Raleigh of Windom, Kansas and won the top prize in the Kansas State Fair. Very easy to make and if you choose you can do the mixing all by hand. Although using an electric mixer will give you better results. It originally says to bake it in a loaf pan but I used muffin pans and reduced the baking time and it's still good. Like the apple cake, this is supposed to be a "bread". Again I took the liberty of calling it a cake since the end product is quite sweet. As usual I reduced the sugar by a lot - it was supposed to be 1 1/2 cups! At 1 cup it still is sweet. The nuts for me is optional, I have often done this without it and it does not seem to affect the result much. Please see the note below the recipe for the substitute for buttermilk. My children behaved a little better this time around. Before, once the muffins come out of the oven they start eating it and soon I am left with more than a dozen muffins with no tops!

Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a container.

Beat together sugar, butter and vanilla at moderate mixer speed for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy.

With mixer running, beat in eggs, then bananas.

By hand, stir in flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, mixing after each addition only enough to moisten dry ingredients. (Add dry ingredients in thirds, buttermilk in two additions.)

Stir in walnuts. Spoon batter into prepared pan, spreading well to corners.

Bake in preheated oven for 55-60 minutes (25-30 minutes for muffins) or until loaf is richly browned, begins to pull away from the sides of pan and is springy to the touch.

Cool bread in wire rack for 10 minutes. Loosen loaf around edge with a small thin metal spatula. Invert; turn right side up. Cool completely.

*Note: If you don't have any buttermilk, you can make some: for every cup of buttermilk, put in 1 Tbsp vinegar or lemon juice in a non-metal container then add milk to make 1 cup; do not stir, let stand and curdle for about 15 minutes.

Tuesday, 19 October 2004

This post is for Yvonne in Switzerland. She was asking for a recipe of our Lumpiang Shanghai (Pork Spring Roll). The 'How to wrap a Spring Roll' section is for my children who might otherwise forget on how to do it. In my haste in doing this I forgot to take a picture of the final fried product. Oh well, I guess I will upload that later. So apologies if this is post is picture heavy; but let's roll on ...

Mix beaten eggs with the salt, sugar, soy sauce, pepper, and garlic. Making sure that the salt and sugar are dissolved in the liquid.

Mix in all the other ingredients thoroughly.

Wrap tightly in spring roll wrappers (for the 'how to' see below or click here for the proper way of wrapping and here for the lazy way).

Deep fry in hot oil for about 4 minutes or until the wrapper is golden brown and crunchy and the pork filling is cooked.

Serve with sweet and sour sauce or Thai sweet chili sauce.

*Note: If shrimps and water chestnuts are not available you can omit these then adjust recipe by reducing the garlic and egg to just one each and halving the measurements for salt, sugar, soy sauce, and pepper.

Saturday, 16 October 2004

The title reads - "Beaten Up Pork Chop". I'm not very fond of pork chops because I find the meat quite dry. But once in a while we have this something like once every 6 months. This is one recipe I find to be quite de-stressing as it involves tenderising the meat by pounding on it. You can use a meat mallet like this:

If you can't find one, just use a wine bottle (wrap in plastic if it still has paper labels) or use the back of your big knife like a cleaver and bang away. Don't take out your frustration on it too much, make sure the chops are still intact. Since it is pulped it does not have to be marinated for a long time. The only problem I found is that it kinda burn easily because of the sugar in the marinade. Otherwise it is straight forward to do and quite good to have with rice, salad, soup or Ginisang Munggo (Sauteed Mung Beans) much like Purple Girl's dinner. This is adapted from the Chinese Cooking for Beginners by Huang Su-Huei.

Wednesday, 13 October 2004

My son and I came home to the Phils. a few years ago. It was his first time there. We were sleeping when he was periodically woken up by the crowing of the rooster very early in the morning. He became very annoyed and asked, "Why does that rooster keep on crowing?". I said, "Well, that's his purpose in life to crow every morning or be in a tinola." He he! What a round about way to allude to this recipe.

This is chicken in a clear soup. Very satisfying and one of my comfort food with special value when I'm ill. For me the dominant flavour (besides the chicken) should be the ginger, then the patis (fish sauce) and then the chili tops adds a piquant flavour as a finish. It is also important to let the chicken to simmer in patis before adding the rice water to make it tasty. I almost always use rice water since it markedly improve the taste of the soup as against using plain water. So as much as you can use rice water.

As I said, this is more or less a clear soup so the quality of the meat will be very noticeable. Hence, use the freshest and most wholesome chicken meat you can get preferably organic. My lola (grandma) would use freshly slaughtered dumalaga (single, unmarried, no eggs or chicks yet) chicken. It always was a treat to eat (since we only have it when a chick had grown big enough), slurping the hot soup with enthusiasm. The only distressing thing was when she tried teaching me to slaughter a chicken. I can dress an already dead chicken but not slay a live one. She taught me well on scaling, cleaning, and preparing fish, squids, shell fish, crabs, etc. mercifully she did not force me on poultry butchering after my first try. But such is the reality of life in the rural area, if you cannot slaughter it then you do not eat it. It's a wonder I did not turn vegetarian.

Peel chayote with a potato peeler and cut in half along the groove in the middle. Take out the white pith and seed in the middle using a spoon. Cut each half lengthwise and cut again crosswise (or diagonally) in about 3/4 inch intervals. Set aside.

Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed pot. Saute garlic and onion until onion is translucent.

Add in ginger and cook for about 3 minutes or until aromatic.

Add the patis and chicken. Stir well. Cover and cook on medium-low heat for about 5 minutes letting the chicken abosorb the patis. Stir occassionally.

Pour in rice water and bring to boil. Bring down heat to simmer and cook for about 30 minutes.

[optional] Skim off excess fat floating on top.

Add chayote, bring up to boil again and cook for 5 minutes or until chayote is done.

Put in chilli tops and cook for about 1 minute. Serve while hot.

*Note: Rice water is the water drained and saved from washing rice before cooking. So you should really cook rice before doing this dish.

Monday, 11 October 2004

It's one of those days, I've got some ingredients and am just too lazy to think on what to cook with it. So I have some Chinese cabbage, some beef and came to a stir fry recipe in the Chinese Cooking for Beginners by Huang Su-Huei. The preparation for the meat made me miss the butchers in Hong Kong where if you tell them to cut the beef for stir frying then they slice it oh so very thinly, almost paper thin actually. And because they're so thin, it only takes you a few minutes to cook them. Really nice. In this recipe, I suggest you use the 'premium' oyster sauce since they do taste a lot better than the regular ones.

I guess I cannot really recreate a Chinese restaurant-quality stir fry since you need a really hot stove for that. I don't know if you've seen the ones in their kitchens. It has a pedal at the bottom that as you press on it, spews out a blast of flame which actually sounds like a jet engine. You need great heat like that to quickly cook the outside and seal the juices inside of the food. It also imparts that smoky, a-tiny-bit-burnt smell and taste - I forgot how they call it in Chinese. For now, I have to make do with the 'high' setting of my electric stove.

The title reads in English - 'The Eternal Almondigas'. Eternal because if my son can get away with it he would eat it everyday. Now that he learned to cook this I think I have to really rein in on him. The dish is essentially meatballs with noodles on a clear soup. There are a lot of variations of this in the Phils. Some put leafy vegetable in the soup, some add more ingredients in the meatballs. But this is the most basic I have seen around and probably the easiest to do. The noodles is what we call miswa in Phils. which is very fine, hair-thin noodles made of flour. If you can't find this you can substitute with Chinese or Japanese flour noodles. Just buy the thinnest one you can get. Finally, this is delicious eaten with a toyo (soy sauce) and lemon dip.

Friday, 8 October 2004

A work colleague of mine requested that I post vegetarian dishes and here is one. As usual this is courtesy of my esteemed Chinese Cuisine cookbook by Huang Su-Huei. This is my kind of recipe - very simple, very easy to do and very few ingredients. It originally called for the tofu to be fried in a wok but I always do it in a non-stick pan and just drizzle a little oil. It works perfectly.

Tofu, also known as soy bean curd or tokwa, is made by curdling soy bean milk. Curdling is aided by calcium sulfate - a naturally occuring mineral. After curdling, the mixture is then pressed to form tofu. So essentially, tofu is soy bean cheese.

Here in the west, there are two types of tofu - the firm one (this comes in blocks) and the silken one (called taho in Phils.). Although when we were in Hong Kong, they have an even firmer type of tofu which are in rounded pieces similar to buffalo mozarella except the former is flatter and squarish in shape. The extra firm and firm ones are good for general cooking. The silken one has a very soft, smooth and creamy texture and is used a lot on desserts.

Also in Hong Kong, there are hawkers who fry and sell preserved tofu right on the street. The problem is they f*&%$ng stink big time! Oh, I swear you could smell it from a mile back! This is very prevalent in the area of Battery Path going to St. Paul's church - uggh! However a lot of people I know (Chinese, Gweilos, even Pinoys) insist that they taste great. Must be the durian syndrome in them.

Thursday, 7 October 2004

I am such a sucker for "award-winning recipes" in magazines. Once I see that heading in a publication then I grab it as if somebody's out to beat me to it. I try most of the recipes and so far about 90% came up trumps. This one is from the magazine ... ah ... I can't remember coz I cutout just the recipe itself. I'm sure it's a US edition. It must be either Good Housekeeping or Red Letter or Family Circle - take your pick. It is touted as a "top winner at the Central Washington State Fair last year". What year it was I ain't got a clue - probably 1994. Great baker who made this is named Myrna Myhowich. So Myrna, wherever you are thanks for this recipe.I'm thinking it was originally named a 'bread' maybe because it is baked in a loaf pan? The finished product is quite sweet so I took the liberty of changing the name to a 'cake'. I also reduced the sugar by 1/4 cup, increased the vanilla, and I normally do not put topping or walnuts and it still comes out good. Don't worry if the batter is quite hard to stir - it really is like that. This is definitely a family favourite often requested by my children. Problem is, once it comes out of the oven they are on it like vultures! ::LOL::

Tuesday, 5 October 2004

My mother never liked beef it stemmed from her childhood experience of being served 'beef' when it fact it was kalabaw (water buffalo) meat. It was wartime and meat was in very short supply. They have to make do with whatever they have. They were actually lucky to have kalabaw meat although I think the poor beast died that's why they have to slaughter it. Somehow it tasted so ma-anggo (very beefy) for her that she never ate any ever again in her life. The banned clique included venison, mutton, and lamb. But she was also determined that her children should not be visited by this prejudice on certain red meats so she periodically fed us beef. One of the more frequent dishes she served was mechado. Although she never tasted it as she cooked, it was nevertheless good. This is her recipe although the lemon slice, I got that from Nora Daza, is just to give a little acid kick. Do not attempt to put a slice from a waxed lemon or to cook it for a long time or you will have a somewhat bitter aftertaste in the dish.

Friday, 1 October 2004

I don't know it this is really a Filipino-Spanish dessert or if it is imported from somewhere. All I know is I saw these in Filipino homes in the cities or suburbs not in the provinces so I'm sure this is not traditional. Anyhow this is well loved by our Brit friends because it is so close to their English trifle dessert. This recipe is just a layering of sponge cake followed by custard (creme patisserie) then fruits and then topped by gelatin. I cheated on this by way of having ready made sponge cake (trifle sponge actually) for the base. I have this phobia of making sponge cakes ever since I attempted one back in Pinas and it turned in the consistency of a hockey puck !

For the fruits, I use canned peaches and pineapples and some glace cherries. If you want to use fruit cocktails it's fine as well just make sure to drain it well. I have not tried using fresh fruits on this. The gelatin can be made plain by replacing the fruit juice with water.